Photo Courtesy of Stonehill Athletics
Sophomore Blaine Lidsky delivers in a walk-off fashion with a game-winning double against Saint Anselm College.
By Desmond Bernal
Stonehill College Baseball started its season with a nail-biting victory over Saint Anslem College in Saturday’s non-conference play. Blaine Lidsky, in his only at-bat, produced a walk-off double to earn the Skyhawks’ first win of the season.
Luke Marshall started on the mound for the Skyhawks. The Hawks jumped on him early when Zach Clough hit a double, scoring Brady Dolan, giving them a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
After that, Marshall would be lights out, pitching seven innings, striking out six batters, and only allowing one earned run. Marshall would get some assistance from Stonehill’s offense in the bottom of the third when Conor Kiely singled up the middle, scoring Chris Roberti to tie the game at one apiece.
It was not until the bottom of the sixth when the Skyhawks extended their lead to 4-1, with Graham Herrick and Noah Lucier both knocking in a run.
Herrick would come through again for the Skyhawks in the bottom of the eighth when he blasted a ball over the right-field fence earning him his first-career home run.
The Hawks made a run in the ninth, putting up eight runs and taking the lead 9-8 going into the bottom of the ninth.
Lidsky entered the game late as a defensive replacement. With two outs and runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth, Lidsky hit a ball to the right-field where the right-fielder misplayed the ball, scoring two runs and winning the game by a score of 10-9.
The next day, the Skyhawks were back at the diamond matching up against Wentworth Institute of Technology in two seven-inning games on Sunday at Lou Gorman Field.
In Game 1, the Skyhawks found themselves trailing early when Kyle O’Neil hit a hard groundball that bounced off the third baseman’s glove to start the second.
With runners on the corners, Wentworth’s Michael Petit lined out to John Orzechowski in center field, and his throw to the plate was not in time, resulting in the Leopards jumping to a 1-0 lead.
The Skyhawks got some production from their bats in the bottom of the third with two singles from Herrick and Lucier. With bases loaded and 0 outs, Kiely delivered with a 2 RBI double putting the Skyhawks on top 2-1. Herrick made another plate appearance in the same inning and doubled to the fence extending the lead to 7-1. The Skyhawks would load the bases six times that inning and knock in 10 runs to go up by a score of 10-1.
As a team, the Skyhawks totaled eight hits, six runs batted in, and only left six runners on base throughout the whole game.
The team had another strong outing from their pitchers. Junior Jonathan Rice got the start for the Skyhawks, pitching five innings allowing only two hits and one earned run. Rice faced 20 batters in those five innings, striking out four batters throwing only 67 pitches.
In Game 2, the Skyhawks kept the offense rolling, starting with a quick 5-0 lead in the bottom first inning.
Fifth-year senior Rob Durate kicked off the game with a 3 RBI double, driving Beauregard, Orzechowski, and Kiely in and give his team a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Skyhawks would add two more runs to their lead with a single from Roberti to extend the lead to 5-0 at the end of the first.
Photo Courtesy of Stonehill Athletics
Fifth-year senior John Orzechowski moved up to 27 RBIs and 45 stolen bases for his career at Stonehill in his performance against Wentworth.
Orzechowski had a strong game hitting 2-for-3 at the plate, one run scored, two runs batted in, and two stolen bases.
Wentworth would try to rally back into the game, scoring four runs in the top of the fourth inning, but it was not enough, and the Skyhawks held on for the win in a final score of 8-6.
Stonehill took the two-game series and moved to 3-0 on the season.
The Skyhawks are back home at Lou Gorman Field this Saturday, March 27, in another doubleheader series against Southern New Hampshire University. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.
Comments